Looking only at her actions and relevant trends across the nation, however, he provided possible justifications.

“I think she’s right in rejecting so-called same-sex marriage as contrary to God’s design for what marriage is,” he continued. “And she is right in assessing this departure from God’s will as massive, not marginal; and as personally and culturally deadly, not trivial.”

He cited several New Testament verses offering advice for Christians called to submit to their government, explaining that Davis could be both morally and legally right in her decision to flout the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling legalizing gay marriage.

“When Paul says rulers are not a terror to good conduct,” Piper said, “we’re liable to scratch our heads.”

He went on to theorize, though, that the author intended his message to be received “like a dad says to his children, ‘We tell truth in this family.’”

It reflected the ideal, he suggested, rather than an imperfect reality.

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Piper likened the actions of Christians to the biblical parable of a slave who was beaten when he had done nothing wrong.

“It seems to me that he has done something good,” he said. “Maybe he stuck up for a fellow Christian slave, or maybe he shared the gospel, or maybe he – or she, say – refused to have sex with the master.”

Davis could be legally justified in her decision, too, Piper explained.

First, he noted that it might be the Supreme Court that actually “broke the law by the ludicrous claim that they could find in the Constitution a right to the non-existent illusion called same-sex marriage.”

Furthermore, Piper noted that state and federal provisions seem to protect an employee – even an elected one – from violating his or her faith in the completion of a job requirement.

Americans of all faiths are increasingly faced with such a dilemma, he concluded, noting believers can use this trend to their advantage.

“The upshot for all of us,” he said, “is that we should all be pondering now what that line is: in our vocation, our schooling, civic life, our finances. If we’re not fixed and strong in our resolve and are taken off guard with the threat of loss, we will cave in.”

Do you think Kim Davis made the right decision? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.